9-11

I got to speak at church on 9-11. It was a humbling experience to research and go back through all of the stories, and to remember how I felt that day. One of the things that struck me the most was not the many stories of the firefighters and policeman. They are heros no doubt, but they were doing their jobs. They were trained to do what they did and they went in knowing full well the danger to their lives. What struck me the most was the stories of ordinary men and women who put their lives at risk to help others.

Todd Beamer is one of my personal heros. On flight 93 he knew that he was going to die. He knew that the hijackers had a plan that did not include him getting off of that plane alive. He made a concious decision to die in a way that would save other people. He and the other passengers on that flight decided that they would rush the cabin, and make sure that the plane didn't make it to it's intended target. They saved an unknown amount of lives that day.

Last night after talking about it all day, watching the tributes and seeing the videos of that day replayed, Katherine was very sad. She is old enough to realize that people aren't always good. There is evil out there and needless, terrible things happen. We had a good cry together and we were able to talk about why it's important that we remember. She just didn't understand why all of those people had to die for no reason. We talked about how bad things happen to good people and it's our responsibility as Americans to try to use those bad things to make positive changes in our own lives and to affect our small little corner of the world for good. My favorite quote from my talk was "Duty does not require perfection, but it does require dilligence." We have to be like Todd Beamer. Even if our lives are not in grave danger, we still have to make a concious choice to actively pursue things that will make a difference. We have to choose to turn the plane around sometimes and make something bad into something that is good.

I love you all- hope you had a sweet day of remembrance and forgiveness yesterday.

"Believe that you are enough, and the Savior will make up the difference."

Erin